This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq

As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home. And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)

Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.

School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.

Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur

Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.

Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.

Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.

Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.

Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.

Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.

An interim constitution has been signed.

Girls are allowed to attend school.

Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.

Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on ! these facts. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.

Washington, D.C., October 27 - On behalf of the Administration, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced yesterday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has enrolled nearly 1.2 million acres of some of the country’s most environmentally sensitive lands into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

This brings the total acres enrolled in CRP up to 35.6 million.

“In August, I was there when the President promised to have USDA hold a CRP general sign-up in September and allow up to 800,000 more acres.

Ducks Unlimited is delighted that the Administration has increased its promise another 400,000 acres beyond that,” said Ducks Unlimited President John Tomke. “This will certainly help waterfowl populations, as well as other wildlife. It’s also great for working farms and ranches. This increase in CRP acres is greatly needed, because the demand for this program has been so strong.”

DU has a lead role in Washington, D.C. working with the administration and Congress to make sure that the conservation provisions of the Farm Bill like CRP are carried out.

“This is great that the Administration is responsive to the concerns of the conservation community, as well as farmers. CRP is a vital program to all DU members and is critical in our wetland and waterfowl conservation mission, especially in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains,” said DU Executive Vice President, Don Young. “All five of the states in this region were among the top recipients of acres in this sign-up. This is important, because this region, also known as the Duck Factory, represents the best of the best nesting habitat in North America.”

According to federal and state researchers, in just 5 years, more than 12 million additional ducks were added to the fall flight as a result of CRP in the prairies.

Moreover, CRP has accomplished more than any other USDA program for landscape-level conservation of soil, water and wildlife habitat while providing working farms and ranches with more money.

“CRP is a proven, results-oriented conservation program that greatly benefits wildlife. Research shows that putting land in CRP results in measurable benefits for wildlife in many areas of the country,” Young explained.

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Look at the record...

BUSH:

Opened more lands for public hunting than any past president.

The very first thing Bush did on his first day in office was to cancel Clinton's White River Project which would have destroyed our nation's most important hardwood wetlands.

The first president to not only commit to no net loss of wetlands, but to commit to adding wetlands.

The first president to open his door to sportsmen organizations and to hold regular meetings with them to hear their concerns and recommendations.

KERRY:

Nothing for the sportsman. In 20 years of drawing a paycheck in the senate he only authored two bills which favored commercial fishing interests over the interests of sportsfishermen.